MALIBU—On January 27, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) regarding the failures that led to the Palisades, Eaton, and Hughes fires that devastated Southern California in 2025
On January 24, 2025, before sitting down with Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass, and other community leaders, President and First Lady Melania Trump took an aerial tour of the remains of the Pacific Palisades, Eaton, and Hughes fires.
The President told them, then that the Trump Administration would be waiving the normally required permits needed for debris clean-up and removal.
“That could take up to 10 years. We want to get it done in 10 days.”—President Trump January 24, 2025
The following came directly from Trump’s Executive Order, the full text of which may be found on the White House webpage.
“One year ago, the California State and Los Angeles city and county governments failed to contain wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles and consumed nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses. The State and local governments failed to engage in responsible forest management systems out of a misguided commitment to naturalist and climate policies, which increased the severity of the fires.
They failed to maintain water distribution and reservoir systems so that these systems would be available and fully functional in case of emergency. They then failed to quickly communicate evacuation warnings and failed to act decisively or cohesively to contain the fire once it started burning. In fact, Mayor Karen Bass was not in Los Angeles to respond to the crisis because she was traveling abroad. This marked one of the greatest failures of elected political leadership in American history, from enabling the wildfires to failing to manage them, and it continues today with the abject failure to rebuild.”
First, he addressed how to move forward and overcome state and local obstruction.
“…As a result, despite the Federal Government expeditiously clearing debris and doing its part to support survivors, the actions of State and local authorities have ensured that the vast majority of the tens of thousands of homes and businesses destroyed in the wildfires have not yet been rebuilt a year later”
The following came directly from President Trump’s EO outlining the demands of the federal government due to non-compliance by the local government.
“Sec. 6. Accountability for Use of Taxpayer Dollars.
(a) The Secretary, through the Administrator of FEMA, shall:
(i) within 30 days of the date of this order, determine what amount, if any, of the nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding granted to California, which was awarded to mitigate hazards, including the threat of future wildfires to the citizens of California, was awarded arbitrarily, capriciously, or contrary to law; and
(ii) within 60 days of the date of this order, conduct a Federal audit of California’s use of HMGP funding, including whether funded projects were completed as approved and on time, whether projected risk reduction matched actual outcomes, and whether California used Federal funding in a way that demonstrably mitigated the impact of future wildfires on its citizens.
(b) Within 30 days of the completion of the audit described in subsection (a)(ii) of this section, the Secretary, through the Administrator of FEMA, shall make administrative determinations in light of the audit’s findings and recommendations, and shall enforce such determinations by, where appropriate, imposing future grant conditions, initiating recoupment or recovery actions in accordance with applicable law, or deploying oversight and technical assistance to expedite the administration and use of HMGP funds for individuals, families, and small businesses, to implement this order.”
